Scott Bader-Saye was installed as the ninth president and dean of the Seminary of the Southwest in January 2025. Photo: Seminary of the Southwest
[Episcopal News Service] The Board of Seminary of the Southwest yesterday terminated President and Dean Scott Bader-Saye “effective immediately,” according to a Sept. 5 letter to alumni and friends from the Diocese of Texas.
Bader-Saye’s termination comes after he admitted to developing an inappropriate relationship with an employee he had supervised, according to the letter signed by Texas Bishop Suffragan Kathryn M. Ryan, who chairs the Austin-based seminary’s board of trustees, and Texas Bishop C. Andrew Doyle.
“[Bader-Saye’s] behavior violates the professional standards required of all employees of the Seminary by the Personnel Handbook and the Safeguarding God’s People policies included therein, and of the faculty by the Faculty Handbook,” the bishops said. “As Dean and President, he was responsible for abiding by those policies himself, as well as ensuring they were upheld by all members of the community and responding appropriately when they were not.
Bader-Saye was elected unanimously in 2024 and installed as the seminary’s ninth dean and president in January. He joined the seminary staff in 2009 as the Helen and Everett H. Jones Chair in Christian Ethics and Moral Theology, and in 2013, he was appointed academic dean. Bader-Saye remained a professor of Christian ethics and moral theology.
In his roles, “Dr. Bader-Saye bore the greatest responsibility for careful compliance with these policies and for leading by example,” the bishops said.
Tony Baker, a theology professor at the Seminary of the Southwest, who worked with Bader-Saye to develop the seminary’s theology and ethics curriculum, will take over teaching duties, according to the letter.
“Though his departure will require careful planning and attention, both in the short term and for the healthy future of the Seminary, the Board, Academic Dean Ben King, the President’s Cabinet, and the faculty have begun that important task,” the letter said. “We all have deep confidence in the day-to-day work of the formation of students and of the administration of the Seminary’s mission.”
The board notified the president’s cabinet and faculty of Bader-Saye’s immediate termination on Sept. 4 and the remaining staff, students and alumni on Sept. 5.
Seminary of the Southwest is a Diocese of Texas institution, and the diocesan bishop appoints the board’s chair, who is typically the diocese’s bishop suffragan.
In the letter, Ryan and Doyle called for prayers for everyone affected, including faculty, staff and students, and said pastoral resources, including extra chaplains, are now available to the community.
“I know that this news will be unsettling individually and collectively. …We place our trust in God’s deep love and power to heal.”